John P. Donnelly was a native of Pittsburgh and came to the Mount Dora area around 1879. In 1881 he married a woman by the name of Annie Mc Donald Stone which was a very prominent landholder in the community. She was very successful in real estate and business ventures. 

In 1893 he built the Donnelly house which was a Queen Anne Style House with three stories and a basement underground. He was the founder of the local Yacht club and served as the cities first mayor in 1910.  Unfortunately in 1908 Donnelly's wife passed away. In 1924 he sold the land which would be dedicated to his wife for a park. Eventually he had passed away in 1930. 

Today the house is now the site of the Mount Dora Masonic Lodge #238. The house has an octagonal turret and a wrap around porch. It is absolutely gorgeous with stained glass windows, Masonic symbols engraved into some of the windows, weather vane's etc it is a real beautiful home. The house originally had 160 acres which John and had homesteaded. Their is a building on the local campus of the Montverde Academy that is named after him cause he made numerous contributions.

The park which was purchased for 45,000 dollars from the city was established by the Mount Dora Woman's Club which was found in 1919. In 1926 two shuffle board courts were installed and organized mount Dora's first shuffleboard club. By 1960 the park had grown to have 22 courts. Today their is a time capsule in the park, memorial benches, a veteran memorial, tennis courts, and a recreational center for various town events. The Donnelly House was put on the national register of historic places in 1975 and the park was called the Annie E. Mc Donald Stone Donnell Park.

Surrounding the park and house is downtown Mount Dora which is full of many small shops, historical mansions, dimly lit lamps which run along brick walkways, and many historical sites. It really is a very eerie yet amazing little area. Since the park serves as a focal point of the town its only natural for various energies to be present here and if that does not get to you the amazing Donnelly House will.

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